Slow Recovery

Finally today I think I have turned the corner and I'm starting to feel better. It's been such a weird week around here! Our normally healthy family has been struggling. Poor Tommy has been battling a fever since Monday, but I think he might finally have turned the corner also. He started to seem like himself this morning when he woke up.

I had expected to bounce back pretty quickly from my surgery. I even scheduled a rehearsal for this afternoon thinking that I would be back to normal. What was I thinking? Unfortunately I'm going to have to miss it, but thankfully the other teachers are willing to take over for me.

I thought that I had recovered pretty quickly the last time, but I also didn't realize that these two surgeries would be so different. I can't remember how long Lap #1 took, but I don't think Dr. L was in there for very long and I believe she only removed two spots of endo. I had no problem with the hour-long drive back and I remember having Panera for dinner that night - chicken noodle soup, yum!

Lap #2 on Tuesday lasted 3 hours and in addition to the laparoscopy Dr. S performed a selective HSG, hysteroscopy, and cauterized my cervix. I have a feeling that he was much more precise and meticulous when it came to removing the endo. I will learn more at my post-op visit, but from what he told my parents it sounds like he removed about 10-15 spots of endo and moved my lower colon back into place. (Whatever that means!!) It sounds like he left one spot of endo near my rectum (sorry for the TMI) because he didn't want to mess around with the tissue too much down there. He gave my parents 54 pictures from the surgery, but I'm going to need him to explain them to me!

I had planned on going back home the night after surgery - it's about a 2-hour drive. My parents were with me since my hubby was home with Tommy. I had been at the hospital since 6:00am (surgery lasted from 8:00 - 11:00) and I was finally discharged around 4:00pm. Unfortunately I felt pretty sick during the short drive from the hospital to the hotel. Just walking from the car to the room made me nauseous.

I decided to take a nap and hoped that I would feel good enough for the drive home afterwards - but no such luck! Even just sitting up in bed made me feel sick. I have been under anesthesia twice and it hadn't bothered me so much in the past - but I guess this was different because I was under for longer. My parents went to get dinner and brought back some soup for me, but I didn't feel like eating anything at all.

The painkillers worked well but I had other side effects - shoulder pain from the gas bubbles left in my abdomen and my throat felt like it was on fire (from the tube that was down there during surgery.) It hurt to talk and all I could do was pretty much lay there. I felt so bad because my hubby was home alone with a sick baby. He had a ton going on at work this week and wasn't planning to be gone two days.

Anyways, after a good night's sleep on Tuesday night I felt fine on the drive back Wednesday morning. We got home just as my hubby was returning from the pediatrician. Tommy didn't have any ear infection or strep, most likely just battling a virus. But it was our first time seeing him sick - he's been such a healthy little guy until now. He seriously slept most of the week - and was only awake for one hour at a time a few times during the day. He didn't want to take any medicine and I hated having to force it in his mouth. :( It was just so sad to see him feel so yucky and be so miserable. All he wanted was to be with me, but I didn't have the strength or energy to hold him for very long. Even the weather has been nasty this week - it's felt pretty depressing around here!

Thankfully my hubby has been a rockstar and my parents have been amazing. My mom has been doing all the shopping, cooking and cleaning around here. It seems like the sun might finally come out today, even though it's still freezing cold.

Thanks for all the love, support and prayers. I feel really good about working with Dr. S - did I mention that he prayed with me before surgery? Even though I couldn't see him because I didn't have my glasses or contacts, it was really sweet. I am looking forward to my post-op appointment when he explains everything in detail.